Latest Posts by northerlyy - Page 2

Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis), male, taken May 9, 2025, in Georgia, US

Looking quite sharp in more than one way! This guy must have just finished his spring molt—those feathers are spotless! I'm still seeing some bald and semi-bald cardinals running around, so the molt is still underway, but they, too, shall be fresh and beautiful like this guy afterwards!

Jumping Spider (Maevia expansa), female, taken May 8, 2025, in Georgia, US

A curious jumper making her way along a twig! She was not very happy with me but ultimately cooperated enough to get a single good picture. Like the Dimorphic Jumping Spider (Maevia inclemens), this spider's males have two different morphs: a "gray" morph that is gray with black stripes and bright orange palps and a "tufted" morph that is black with white legs and 3 black tufts of hairs above its eyes. The males of the species look nothing alike, which may cause them to be misidentified. This species can be differentiated from M. inclemens by the presence of white patterning on the head of the female and around the eyes of the males. You can also use locality, as they have currently only been found in Georgia and once in Tennessee.

WAUCE BLAST

(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)

Humpbacked Orbweaver (Eustala anastera), female, taken May 8, 2025, in Georgia, US

Some shots of a beautiful wild diamond... I intercepted her as she tried to web her way to the ground and placed her on a fallen tree in an attempt to get photos. Luckily for me, she curled up instead of running away! This spider is quite variable, some being brown like this and others having a coloration similar to lichen!

Spiny Assassin Bug (Sinea spinipes), taken May 5, 2025, in Georgia, US

Spiny, indeed! Look at those legs! The nymphs of this species are mostly black with a yellow abdomen, quite different from the brown camouflage of adults. If you're not looking closely, adults can be overlooked at a brown spot on leaves or part of tree bark. They're quite good at what they do! I usually only find nymphs, so finding this adult hiding in the leaves was a nice treat!

Smoky-winged Dancer (Argia fumipennis ssp. fumipennis), teneral female, taken May 6, 2025, in Georgia, US

Here I am again, filling my blog with damselflies... Update on these guys: the males are STILL brown. It's been 3 weeks!!! When will they turn purple?? They look nice brown as well, but they're not even the pretty brown they get when they're mature. When fully adult, females will become a nice golden brown and males become a vibrant violet, both having black patterning as well. It looks gorgeous, but right now all of them are this sad, pale brown. The day I see a purple male I am going to jump for joy and scare it away lol.

Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis), taken April 30, 2025, in Georgia, US

My friend pointed out to me that catbirds have soulless, black eyes, and now I see it every time I look at them. I can't deny that this guy looks like he's committed crimes. Either that or his children that are actively screaming at him as this photo is taken have sucked the soul out of him. Is he telling me that he doesn't care about the horrific things he's done, or is he silently pleading for reprieve from parenthood? I don't think I could help him either way!

Nomad Bees (Genus Nomada), taken May 5, 2025, in Georgia, US

Some little red bees! These guys are always super busy unless, of course, they're sleeping like in the third image! Yesterday the bees were quite gracious with their landing times, sitting still long enough for me to actually press the shutter button lol. Normally, they're flying around constantly, searching for the burrows of other bees to lay their eggs in!

Cuckoo Wasp (Family Chrysididae), taken May 5, 2025, in Georgia, US

I fear my photography career has peaked with this one. I don't think I've ever seen anything so cute in my life. This little lady was simply just sleeping on the stem of a leaf, completely unaware of the fact that I was frantically taking as many pictures of her as possible. In the end, she put out a single antenna to sense me better but never ended up moving, so I'd say my attempt to not disturb her was successful! I had no idea cuckoos slept like this—it's adorable!!! One billion more, please!!

Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis), taken April 30, 2025, in Georgia, US

A chickadee fluttering around the suet feeder! This individual seemed quite reluctant to use its right foot, possibly due to an injury. Despite that, it was able to perch upright and on the feeder bars fine after a bit of adjusting. The chickadees are always very bold, and even injured this one is no exception!

Marbled Oak Dagger (Acronicta marmorata) + wing detail closeups

Round-necked Longhorn Beetle (Clytus ruricola), taken May 2, 2025, in Georgia, US

A cool longhorn beetle who's slumber I disturbed! This guy was hiding under a leaf after a storm. I didn't recognize the beetle, so I flipped his little leaf over for pictures. He was disturbed but didn't seem afraid, slowly exploring my presence and staying after I left him alone. I'm seeing lots of new longhorn beetles outside, but most of them are so skittish that they fly away as soon as they see me. I just happened to catch this guy at a lucky time!

Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus), female, taken April 28, 2025, in Georgia, US

A lovely woodpecker mom visiting the feeders! Usually this species is very shy, and I wasn't being particularly quiet this day, so I'm not sure why she even came over lol. Regardless, I got some good pictures of her looking at me over her shoulder between bites! It's about time for me to start seeing her baby (or babies) at the feeders. Juveniles of this species completely lack the red head pattern of adults, having a plain gray head, so they're pretty easy to identify. Maybe I'll see them around!

Brave Squirrel...

Lesser Anglewings (Microcentrum retinerve), nymphs, taken May 2, 2025, in Georgia, US

Katydids in their awkward baby phase! Their legs are so spindly and long as young nymphs, kind of like a horse foal. Even though their limbs are a bit too long, they are still very nimble and navigate the tall grasses with ease. Alongside these guys, I'm also seeing lots of meadow katydid nymphs which will eventually become short-winged and handsome meadow katydids, though it's impossible to tell which at their current age!

Southern Sprite (Nehalennia integricollis), teneral female, taken May 1, 2025, in Georgia, US

A delicate damsel! I'm extremely excited to have gotten some good pictures of this species, as they're pretty rare in my area. I've only seen one previously, a male last summer. Males of this species can be identified by their bright blue eyes and tail tips which contrast their otherwise green and white body. Females look very similar when fully adult but can be differentiated, having dark blue eyes, duller bodies, and a much smaller blue spot on the tail (white tail spot on the individual in the photo). Now that I'm actually actively looking for damselflies when I go out, I hope I'll see more new faces!

Scarlet-bordered Assassin Bug (Rhiginia cruciata), taken April 25, 2025, in Georgia, US

A bit of an interesting lifer! I've been seeing these guys flying around me, but they either would never land or would spook too fast to get a good look. Fortunately, this guy landed right in front of me and politely stood still while I did my best to get pictures as the sun glared onto my camera display and made it impossible to tell if my image was in focus or not (horrific). This species is part of a subfamily referred to as millipede assassin bugs which, as the name would imply, exclusively prey on millipedes. They have evolved to specialize in hunting millipedes, possessing unique venom, mouthparts, and other physical features that allow them an advantage over other predators when hunting them. They're quite interesting, and may be the culprits of some millipede husks you find while digging through leaflitter!

House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus), female, taken April 30, 2025, in Georgia, US

Miss Finch getting a refreshing sip of the newly-replaced bird bath water! Her husband was waiting in an adjacent tree, and they flew off together afterwards. Either they or another house finch pair returned later with 2 babies which sat on the feeder and screamed while their parents got food. It is officially time for babies to leave the nest!

society has ingrained in all of us that bugs are bad and evil and scary and they Bite You for no reason and Sting You For Fun and I would like to challenge every single person that reads this to try to step back and challenge those thoughts. CHALLENGE that knee-jerk reaction to kill every bug you see. REALIZE that killing it doesn't have to be the answer. it's fine to not want bugs in your home. but I see so many people whose FIRST choice is to kill it, even though it'd be easy to just cup it and toss it outside. why?

one of the greatest things that got me over my extremely intense arachnophobia was knowledge. learning more about the thing I was afraid of made me realize, "oh, they're just little guys trying to get by too" and I stopped killing every spider I saw.

and it's like. no, that wasp didn't sting you for fun. it stung you because it felt scared or defensive. no, the spider in your shower isn't trying to kill you. spiders need water to live too.

you don't deem a scared dog/cat evil for biting you, do you? then why are we demonizing insects and spiders for feeling scared? they are so, so small and we are so large. they don't know anything about us, they're just trying to live life. they didn't know they built their web in a bad spot. they didn't know they built their nest next to your door. please, show some kindness to these tiny creatures. I understand you can't let infestations happen or wasps build in your walls, but whenever possible, try to put bugs in a cup and take them outside. yes, even wasps. even black widows. if you want tips for safely capturing bugs, I'm always around to ask.

also, to those who say things like, "x bug eats other pest bug, so they're okay" why? why does something have to benefit you to deserve to live? shouldn't all creatures have a chance at life, even if they're ugly, even if they don't benefit you, even if they do something you don't like? what gives you the right to decide to take the life of any animal just because ahhh it looked scary? please. all I ask is you try to be kinder. it's okay to be scared, it's not okay to pointlessly kill things.

Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor), taken April 30, 2024, in Georgia, US

A curious titmouse amongst the maple leaves! This one is older because I've been a bit bug-crazy the past few weeks, but I saw a baby starling at the feeders yesterday, so I'm going to be camping out there as babies begin showing up. I'm hoping the starling returns—they're usually pretty skittish. For now, enjoy this nice titmouse looking at me like I'm a weirdo, as they usually do lol.

Fragile Forktail (Ischnura posita), male, taken April 24, 2025, in Georgia, US

The fragilist, but not the smallest, of forktails... This species is the third most common damselfly in my area, surpassed only by smoky-winged dancers and turquoise bluets. Despite their small size, they're actually much more amenable to being photographed than the much larger smoky-wingeds. All damselflies are skittish about being photographed, though, so I've been getting a lot of exercise in the form of lunges and squats while chasing these guys around! Sometimes it's not even me scaring them, but other damselflies chasing them off their spot!

Braconid Wasp (Family Braconidae), female, taken April 23, 2025, in Georgia, US

A elegant woman with an even more elegant butt-katana! This little lady was flitting around slowly in the wake of brief rainfall, likely cautious of flying, so she made an easy subject. My favorite types of wasps are ones who sit still and stare off into space for long periods of time—easy pickings!

Keeled Treehopper (Entylia carinata), taken April 27, 2025, in Georgia, US

A lifer treehopper for me! This guy flew in and landed right on top of a fly. Because of that, I thought it was another fly but noticed the pigmentation was strange, so I bent down for a closer look. Thank god I did, because this guy is epic! I'm always on the lookout for treehoppers, but they seem so rare to me. Hopefully this spring brings me even more hopper luck!

So many gall parasitoids! they were all going to town on those Amphibolips galls, occasionally pushing eachother off them in order to oviposit

Genus Torymus, Genus Sycophila Genus Eurytoma, Genus Torymus Genus Sycophila, Genus Sycophila Genus Eurytoma, Genus Sycophila Family Torymidae, Genus Eurytoma

Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia), taken April 24, 2025, in Georgia, US

What I believe is my first butterfly of the year, at least that I've been able to photograph! I saw what I think was a Blue Morpho in early, early spring, before almost anything was awake, but it flew off before I could get a picture. Since then, it's been some skippers and a few Tiger Swallowtails, but never when I have my camera on me! This guy was touched down because of a storm. I went out right after the rain, when many flying insects are still reluctant to fly, and was able to get a couple decent pictures!

Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura), taken April 1, 2025, in Georgia, US

Preening time! This dove sat and preened vigorously for several minutes, likely staying pretty for his partner! I love seeing the doves all puffed up like this. The local pairs will often sit in the morning sun all puffed up and warming up for the day—their little morning date :)

Maple Looper Moth (Parallelia bistriaris), taken April 19, 2025, in Georgia, US

A gorgeous moth amongst the grass! This is good proof that just because an animal is brown doesn't mean it's boring. I find that brown animals are often some of the most gorgeous, especially through the camera lens. I initially startled this moth into flight, but recognized it as a maple looper from afar. A good thing, too, because I would have ignored it if I thought it was a Genus Renia moth! Looking for moths in the leaves often feels like trying to find a rare, unique moth in the midst of a sea of Renias—they're just so numerous...

Juvenile Yellow-Crowned Night Heron of Judgement.

He knows what you did, you should be disappointed. Do better.

Citrine Forktail (Ischnura hastata), female, taken April 24, 2025, in Georgia, US

The damselflies are finally coloring up! The variable dancers are all still teneral, but the fragile and citrine forktails are turning their brilliant colors! Females of this species come in two colors: orange and olive. I've yet to see an olive female, but these guys are fairly uncommon, so I'm not surprised. Regardless, it's nice to see these tiny pops of color flying around!

Common Five-lined Skink (Plestiodon fasciatus), taken April 25, 2025, in Georgia, US

A silly little skink! Me and this lizard spent a few minutes sitting next to each other, him catching ants and me watching. This guy was quite small, likely still young, and it was fun to watch him scuttle around, looking under leaves for little bug morsels!